A man like you can never change
by sbeth310
Summary: Eponine has been married to Snape for fifteen years, but she's lived the past two as a muggle, having left her husband because of his abuse. But she's forced to return when she learns Voldemort's back, and help him while he spys. Severus claims to have changed, but has he? ANd when Eponine learns news about his health, will she fall back in love with him?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everybody. So this is my first story on this site, I hope you enjoy it!**

 **Beth**

Eponine stared at the newspaper, the red headline giving her a sinking feeling deep in her stomach. _Harry Potter Speaks out at last: The truth about He Who Must Not Be Named and the night I saw him return!_ It screamed out at her, and she sat there in the muggle diner, watching the miniature Harry Potter grinning nervously from the front cover.

She, like everybody else, had heard the rumors that the Potter boy was mad, but she hadn't paid attention beyond that. Reading and rereading his article, though, she came to realize the truth. Without another word to the server standing above her, she threw down money and swept out the door, holding the copy of The Quibbler close to her chest. The only thing on her mind was getting to Hogwarts as fast as possible, and to the only man she trusted.

* * *

"Professor Dumbledore," she said, leaning forward, clutching her hands into tight fists, her nails cutting deep into her palms, the copy of The Quibbler on the desk between them. "Is it true? Is he back?" She prided herself on keeping her voice steady, but on the inside, she was barely keeping panic at bay.

The headmaster nodded, a grave look on his face. "It is true, my dear." She closed her eyes, holding back the sudden warmth of tears and the memories threatening to surface. "Are you going to ask about your husband?"

"I haven't seen Severus in almost two years, sir," she said sharply, snapping her eyes open. "I don't intend to now. I only came here because I knew you'd know the truth, and you're about the only person I can trust to be honest with me."

"Eponine," Dumbledore said, leaning forward himself, "Severus is risking his life, surely you can forgive him for his mistakes when he was young?"

"I figured he was back spying for you," she said bitterly, folding her hands together in her lap. "If you-know-who was really back. But I don't care what he does anymore, professor. I was seventeen when I married him, it's been a long time since I felt any love for Severus."

"You never divorced him." It was a statement, not a question.

"No, I didn't, but only because-" she began, right before someone knocked on the door. She breathed out through her nose as the professor bid whoever it was to enter.

"Albus, Potter's gotten into it with Umbridge again." It was McGonagall, who took a double take at the woman sitting in the office. "Mrs. Snape."

Eponine smiled at her. "I go by Ms. Montgomery now. Hello Professor McGonagall."

"Minerva, I am aware," Dumbledore said calmly. "I was there."

"Who's Umbridge?" Eponine asked curiously, looking back and forth between the professors. "What's Harry Potter done?"

"Dolores Umbridge," McGonagall began, with some disgust in her voice, "is the senior undersecretary to Cornelius Fudge. She is also the defense against the dark arts teacher."

"If she works for the minister, what is she doing here?"

"Eponine, do you receive the Daily Prophet?" Dumbledore questioned. She shook her head.

"No, it's trash. Why?"

"A lot of your questions would have been answered if you had," McGonagall sighed, pursing her lips. "The ministry is attempting to take over Hogwarts because, they believe, the headmaster is insane."

"But he's not."

"Exactly," Dumbledore said, sitting back in his chair and eyeing her. "Eponine, there is something I must ask you, and it is not a favor you will like."

"What is it?" She knew, before he asked, what it would be.

"You have a powerful gift for healing. Join the order of the phoenix. Reunite with your husband. Events have changed him, it would surprise you. We need you, we need people like you."

Eponine pushed her chair back and stood. "He abused me," she said in a shaky voice. "You know this. You were the one that helped me leave almost two ago. And now you ask me to reunite with him? I'm sorry, professor, but I don't know if I can."

"There's going to be a war," Dumbledore said bluntly. "People are going to die, like last time. We could use a healer. "

She let out the breath she'd been holding. "Okay," she said finally, sitting back down. "What do you need from me?"

Standing alone in her muggle flat later that afternoon, Eponine thought about the past fifteen years of her life. She'd met and married Severus Snape when she was just seventeen, the year before you-know-who vanished. She'd known from the beginning he wasn't in love with her, or at least, he didn't love her as much as she loved him. She knew he'd only actually gone through with their marriage because of their baby.

She sank into a chair, leaning her head back. The first year of their marriage had been good, until she gave birth to Ellen. Their daughter. She'd only lived for ten minutes, but she had been the turning point. After her death, Severus pulled away from Eponine, only coming back to her when he needed something.

And then he began taking out his anger on her. The abuse began with Lily Potter's death. He'd come home intoxicated, and if she said anything to him, more than likely she'd end the night with a new bruise or five.

She kept to herself for the next thirteen years of their marriage, dealing with the physical and even sexual abuse because, after all, it was just her. She was strong enough to deal with it.

Until she became pregnant again. The second she got the confirmation that she was carrying another child, she went straight to the headmaster, who found the right paperwork for her and her daughter to hide in the muggle world, and she told Severus never to contact her again.

Now she would have no choice, she realized. She was going to have to tell her husband that he'd fathered another child, and that was a conversation she was not looking forward to.

She slipped on the coat that had been her father's, stashing her wand in the inside pocket, and stared at her reflection. She looked like a muggle. With another sigh, she exited her bedroom, greeted the babysitter, and went out the door. A fair distance away, she apparated to Hogsmeade, and from there, walked the distance to Hogwarts, where Dumbledore was waiting in his office with Severus. She knocked on his office door, nervously chewing the inside of her cheek. After a soft "enter," came from the headmaster, she slowly pushed open the door, and the figure sitting across from him turned.

"Eponine," Severus gasped, staring at her. "What are you doing here?"On instinct, Eponine wrapped her arms around herself.

"Severus, meet the newest member of the Order. She came here to talk to you," Dumbledore interjected. The potions master continued just staring, surprise in his dark eyes.

"Hello Severus," Eponine managed finally, taking a small step forward.

"Perhaps the two of you should go to Severus' office. Dolores wants a meeting with me, and it would not be wise for you to be here."

"Right," Eponine said. "Okay." Severus stood up slowly, bid farewell to Dumbledore, and gestured for Eponine to follow him. She glanced over at the headmaster, who made a "go on" motion with his hands, and she let out a breath and followed her husband out of the office. They hadn't gotten far before a woman dressed in pink stopped them.

"Severus, there you are," she exclaimed, before noticing Eponine. "And who is this?"

"Dolores, this is my wife, Eponine. Nina, this is Dolores Umbridge, our current defense instructor."

"Wife?"

"It's nice to meet you," Eponine said politely, trying not to flinch at his use of her nickname, 'Nina.' "I just got back," she said, noticing her intrigued gaze, and used the excuse Dumbledore had told her to give. "I've been in France for the past two years, studying the different types of healing magic with a master there."

"Severus, you didn't tell me you were married," the woman, Dolores, said, her eyes narrowed.

"Oh, we've been married for the past fifteen years," Eponine said, smiling brightly, though her insides were swirling. This meeting was almost too much for her. "I've just been busy, you know. I married right out of school and I never furthered my education until recently. Poor Sev probably forgot he had a wife, I've been gone so much." She forced out a laugh. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we have some catching up to do. Bye!" With another bright smile, she tugged Severus away. When the woman was gone, she pulled away from him and sagged against the wall. "Do not," she said in a low voice, "call me 'Nina' again. You lost that right."

"What was that?" he demanded, staring at her.

"That was what Professor Dumbledore asked me to do, Severus, for the Order. We'll talk more in your office." They walked in silence towards his office, the potions master giving his wife a puzzled glance every few moments. Reaching his office, he sat down behind the desk, gesturing for her to sit across from him. She did, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'm waiting," he said quietly.

"I'm going to be blunt with you, Severus. I don't want to be here. I don't want to be anywhere near you, in fact. But I'm here, Dumbledore wants my help, and that means I have to put up with you against my will." She leaned back in the seat. "Since we're going to be putting up with each other and working together, there's something you should know." She took a deep breath. "You have a daughter. Her name is Katie, and she's just now a year old." Severus stared at Eponine, eyes wide with shock.

"I have a daughter?" Eponine nodded, not taking her eyes off her husband's face, which had slowly gone pale. "You took my daughter away from me? You didn't even give me the choice?"

"You mean, like you gave me the choice the night she was conceived?" She retorted, making Severus flinch. "Since we lost Ellen, you rarely gave me a choice in anything we did together. Forgive me for not wanting that life for our child."

"I don't... Why? Why would you hide her from me? I would've-"

"Would have what?" Eponine snapped. "Changed? Doubtful. A child wouldn't have changed you. You were too in love with Lily Evans to even -"

"Shut up!" he roared, standing up abruptly. Silence filled the small office, with husband and wife staring at each other, one pale and the other red with anger. Severus sat down again, breathing hard, tearing his eyes away from Eponine. "You have no idea what I've been through, these last two years. I have changed, whether you want to believe that or not."

"You have, have you?" she retorted, rising from her chair. "You don't seem to have changed at all, Severus, and I doubt you ever will. Nothing could change a man like you."

"Not even the fact I'm dying?"

"What?" Eponine whispered.

"Barring a medical miracle, I'll be dead in five years."


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's chapter two. I got a much better response then I was expecting! Thank you for the reviews!**

 **(Speaking of reviews) To lightbabe: Yes, we all know Dumbledore did everything he did for what he believes is "the greater good," helping Eponine leave Severus in the first place would mean she would trust him completely, and do what he asked in the future. Yes Severus loves Lily, but in this story, he married Eponine because he couldn't have Lily, and he knew Eponine loved him. As for her going back to him, well, as mentioned before, she now trusts Dumbledore completely. She doesn't _want_ to go back but she is. **

Chapter Two

"What's wrong with you?" Eponine asked, sinking back down in her chair. She'd spent the last two years keeping him from his child, and -

"Nothing that matters, if the dark lord isn't defeated. Either way, I won't outlast this war. Or if I do, it won't be for long." Severus responded, his dark eyes focusing on a parchment sitting on his desk. He noticed his wife's raised eyebrows and sighed. "I was cursed with a very dark spell by a rogue death eater that felt I'd betrayed the dark lord soon after you left me, Eponine. My heart's been don't have a name for it,there have only been a few dozen people who've ever been cursed by it. The most recent one, other then myself, died three years ago. From the research Albus and I have done, it takes a couple of months for the effects to manifest, and once it does, the cursed has roughly ten years, give or take, before their heart gives out completely. Stress speeds it up, and, well..." he stopped, shrugging. "We both know the coming years are going to be full of stress."

Eponine was quiet, staring at the man sitting across from her, lost in thought. She'd spent the past ten years wishing he would suffer like he'd made her suffer, and now... "I wonder if this why Dumbledore wanted me to join the Order? To help find a counter curse, or cure, or whatever?"

"No." his voice sounded defeated. "There is no counter curse, no cure. Albus and I have been looking for the past year. I'm assuming he wanted you to join the Order, to help me spy, so when I'm not here anymore, the Order will still be able to know what the Dark Lord is up to, what his plans are."

"They couldn't get anyone else to spy?"

Severus shook her head. "Nobody that would seem logical, or who the Dark Lord would trust. As my wife, the Dark Lord expects me to have you join his ranks anyway. I've put him off so far telling him you were in France and would be returning when you had finished what you had to do there."

"Oh." So that was why Dumbledore had come up with that cover story as to where she'd been. It had already been told to the dark lord. "We'll have to finish this conversation later. I have to go, Severus, I could only get a babysitter for two hours and I've almost gone over that."

"Can you bring her here?" Severus asked, a look Eponine couldn't place in his eyes. "I'd like to see my daughter."

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea," Eponine said sharply. "I may have agreed to help you, because of Dumbledore and your... illness... but that does not mean I trust you. After everything, I very much doubt I'll ever trust you again."

He sighed. "Fair enough. Perhaps we can arrange a day soon where I can see her?"

"Perhaps."

It was three weeks later, and Eponine was sitting across from her husband in the Hog's Head. Dumbledore had requested she stay in Hogwarts itself, but she had no desire to be that close to Severus, so she had compromised. She'd spent all week looking for a home to rent in Hogsmeade, and she'd just found one that was fairly cheap and within her price range. She'd already paid the downpayment and it was officially hers, so Katie was already waiting there with Remus Lupin. There was even already furniture, some of the order members had come to help move things in.

"Are you alright?" she questioned of Severus. A carriage had brought him most of the way from Hogwarts, so it had only been a short walk for him to the Hog's head, but he seemed out of breath when he sat down and ordered a water. In response to her question, he mutely shook his head and took a drink. "We can put off you meeting Katie," Eponine said, biting her lip. She'd promised Severus the day before he could meet his daughter, but if he was unwell-

"No, I'm well enough," he responded, putting the glass down. "How far away is the house?"

"It's on the other end of the village, Severus," she informed him. "There's always apparation. We'd have to do side along, if you're up to it." The potion's master nodded, and the two went outside. She gripped his forearm, and a couple seconds later, they were standing outside her new house. The door opened, and Remus exited.

"Hey Nina, Severus." he said, nodding to each in turn. "Katie's just woken up from a nap, so you've got perfect timing," he informed Eponine. "I have to go now, though, I'll see you next Friday at the meeting." After Eponine and Severus entered the house, they heard the crack of disapparation.

"Hi baby," Eponine said, picking up the dark haired little girl who had greeted them in the small living room. She turned to her husband. "Severus, this is Katherine, or Katie." He reached out a trembling hand towards the little girl, pulling it back last second. "Katie honey, this is your daddy."

Eponine shut the door behind Severus, leaning against the wood. He'd ended up staying for three hours before he'd been summoned by you-know-who. Katie was settled in the high chair as she bid Eponine bid farewell to her husband for the night, and coming back inside, she realized her daughter had thrown her sippy cup across the room. "Oh Katie," she sighed, picking it up and handing it to her before sinking into an armchair.

Dumbledore had been right. Severus had changed. He was quieter, moved slower, but that didn't mean he wasn't still capable of what he'd done before.

"Sev? I'm home!" Eponine called, entering their house on Spinner's End. She'd spent the day at Hogwarts, talking with Madame Pomfrey about the healer's university. It was there she'd heard the news - Lily and James Potter were dead, right along with you-know-who, and little Harry Potter had survived. She'd been in the same house as the marauders, and she remembered Lily, vaguely, from school. She'd known Severus had had a thing for her, and so she had hurried home to gently tell him the news. But he was nowhere to be seen. "Severus?"

"Here, Nina," a slurred voice came from the dark study. She flicked on the light and saw him seated on the floor, back against the couch, several empty bottles of firewhiskey surrounding him. "Take it you heard?" Eponine nodded, sitting down on the floor beside him. "It's my fault. Trusted him. Guess I was wrong to."

"Oh Sev," Eponine whispered, reaching for his hand. He yanked it away, eyes narrowed. "Severus?"

"You wanted this, didn't you?" he growled. Eponine was taken back by his sudden change in character. He'd spent most of the past three months ignoring her, and now this anger? "You wanted her dead, because you're a selfish bitch, you wanted me all to yourself, didn't you? You couldn't stand being second best."

"Severus, what-?"

"Don't speak to me, bitch," he hissed, standing up as best he could in his drunken state and storming into their room, leaving Eponine sitting on the floor wondering what the hell had just happened.


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's chapter three. I know it's short but it's all I had.**

Chapter Three

Nina- Dumbledore is no longer headmaster, be careful when going up to the castle. Owl post is being monitored. -Remus

Eponine sighed, tossing the parchment on her table. She was curious what had led to Dumbledore leaving the school, but she knew she couldn't risk owling Severus to question him, instead, she realized she'd have to go up there. As his wife, she was allowed on the grounds as much as she liked, so whoever the new head was couldn't fault her for being there.

I need to go up to see Severus. Can you watch Katie for me tomorrow night? -Nina

She sent the message with the owl and waited. An hour later came the response. Yes. Eponine let out a sigh, folding it up and shoving it into her pocket. Tomorrow then. She hadn't seen Severus since the day he'd met Katie, and that had been nearly two weeks ago. She hadn't let herself think about him any more than necessary, or at least, she'd tried. She hadn't been successful, but she wasn't going to let anyone know this, especially Severus.

As the next day went by slowly, Eponine tried to clean house. She'd let it get quite messy, but with a one year old, that was bound to happen, especially since Katie was up and walking. When Remus arrived at six, she handed him the child and apparated as close to the grounds as the spells would let her, and began the trek to Severus's office, where she hoped he would be. She hadn't given him any warning that she would be arriving, so of course she didn't know for sure where he was. She hesitated outside his office door, noting it was cracked a little.

"You will not repeat what you saw to anybody!" she heard her husband roar. She pushed open the door, stopping and staring at the sight in front of her. Harry Potter was on the floor, face pale and eyes wide. He was getting up as she shut the door behind her.

"Severus, what the hell?" Eponine snapped, helping the boy up and turning to her husband, whose face was, if possible, even paler than Potter's.

"Get out!" Severus hissed, eyes blazing. "Get out, I don't want you in my office ever again!" Potter ran for the door as Severus threw a jar at his head, missing and hitting the door frame. When he was gone, Eponine turned back to her husband, almost frozen in place. That was the Severus she had known, the husband she'd left. The two of them stared at each other for a minute, before Severus let out a small grunt and sank into a chair. "I meant for you to leave as well."

"Tough," Eponine responded, crossing her arms. "What was that about, Severus? Why did you treat the boy like that?"

"Do I need to explain myself to you?" he demanded, but without any energy. "Seriously, Eponine, you should just go. I don't have the strength for a fight with you right now."

"I didn't come here for a fight, but I do want an explanation. He's just a boy, how can you treat him like that? Especially with how you felt about his mother-"

"Eponine, stop. Like I already said, I don't have the strength for this." Severus leaned back in the chair, looking up at the ceiling. "If you didn't come here for a fight, why are you here?"

She sat down in the chair across from him. "I got an owl from Remus," she said quietly. "He said it wasn't safe to owl you, and that Albus isn't headmaster anymore. What's going on?"

"Potter is what's going on. He started a club against Dolores Umbridge's rules, and got caught. Albus took the fall so he wouldn't get expelled." Severus closed his eyes, his breathing harsh. "I need my potion."

Eponine stood up. "Where is it?" Severus pointed towards a small end table with a single drawer, and she hurried over, pulling a small vial filled with red liquid. She handed it to Severus, but took it right back when she noticed his hands were shaking and he couldn't get it open. She opened it and held it out to him. He drank it in a single gulp and leaned his head back again, his breathing slowing down. "Are you alright?"

"No I am not. I will talk to you later, just go home." He stood up, gripping the arms of his chair in support. "I promise you we will discuss this later this week."

"Severus-"

"I said go, Eponine," he snapped, turning away from her. He swayed, dropping back down in his chair. "I said we will discuss it later."


End file.
